Legal pirates: Underground film comes free with software "The Tunnel" is changing the way film is funded and distributed.

The Sydney-produced film has set about turning Internet piracy on its head.

“The Tunnel” is the first Australian film to be promoted through U.S. software-maker BitTorrent’s Internet platforms.

The company’s free software has more than 100 million users monthly, and 450,000 new users daily. Prominent links to “The Tunnel” will appear in the “artists' spotlight” program that will take users to the film -- for free.

Co-writers and producers, Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey -- working with executive producer Andrew Denton -- believes this is the modern-tech path to global exposure.

Viewing on file-sharing “torrent” networks is usually perceived as piracy in the film industry, but the producers are making the Internet work for them.

"The last few films that have gone out [this] way ... have racked up downloads in millions," co-writer and co-producer, Enzo Tedeschi, told smh.com.au.

But as with most media that grapples with the Internet, all this begs the question -- how does this make a buck?

Here’s the bankroll. The producers hope this free exposure will lead people to buy a DVD of the movie that includes extra features such as an alternative ending.

Tedeschi says selling a few thousand DVDs will be enough to break even.

"There's a huge audience right here that everyone's ignoring," Julian Harvey -- the film's other producer and writer –- told smh.com.au. "I think you can't be closed to the potential."

"I think for young filmmakers who are about getting their story out there and getting noticed, it could be a game-changer in that small part of the industry."

The film innovators

"Filmink" magazine called the pair "The innovators the film industry has been searching for since the rise of Internet piracy."

They have been spurred by the knowledge that the Internet is now causing a generation to be labeled as criminals for illegal downloading.

From the beginning, Tedeschi and Harvey decided to stop fighting the peer-to-peer networks and work with them instead. They initially funded the film under what they called “The 135k Project,” as reported by CNNGo.

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